Reading the newspaper this morning uncovered an unhappy ending to a ridiculous dilemma....

I have a lot of civic pride: I like living in Glasgow, and I want to see it become as prosperous a place as possible. In my opinion, this means extending the boundaries of the currently-emaciated city to encompass a larger population, especially that of the wealthy suburbs of Milngavie and Newton Mearns. With greater wealth, the council will have more money with which to develop the city, and, in theory, the quality of life would improve.

It is for this reason that I read with disgust that the Braehead Shopping Centre, including IKEA, is being moved entirely outwith the city boundaries. So Renfrewshire will now pocket the business rates from Scotland's largest out-of-town shopping centre, having campaigned against its construction.

Hopefully this will be reversed in years to come, when the Cities Review is published, but I am not hopeful. This notwithstanding, the transfer will occur in 40 days.